Is atheism a scientific perspective?

[Tonus]

You're right, the appearance of design might be an illusion, but I have not seen a compelling reason to think it to be so. In fact, the more I learn the more I think it may be genuine. We have those historical examples of times when things were not as they seemed to be, and that should keep us cautious and fair minded when evaluating the appearance of design. However, just because things aren't always as they appear does not mean that they are never as they appear.

I think it depends on how we approach it and what we think we're looking for. If it's just highly-advanced beings who are not particularly compassionate then the design of things like harmful bacteria or viruses is not surprising (though it might be very disconcerting). If it's a highly-advanced being who is the very hallmark of compassion, such things should trouble us because it's difficult to see where they fit in.

I understand that for a great many people, the idea that there must be a god is very compelling and makes intuitive sense. But where we go from there must take into account everything we see in that design, including the stuff that might make us worry about the type of intellect behind it. I'm cautious about accepting the notion of a highly-advanced --and unbelievably powerful-- being creating everything around us, because some of that stuff is very scary.